Dear Mr Baey,

Complaint about rule on rolling of volleyball under the net

I am Ernest Puey, volleyball captain of Victoria School Volleyball Team. First and foremost, I sincerely thank you for sparing your precious time to read this letter. I am personally very puzzled about the implementation of the rule about the rolling the ball under the net. I am personally against this rule as I feel it serves no purpose to help the game.

As a Victorian, my school envisions a growth of the sportsman mentality in every individual. We engrave the character of a true sportsman in our students. Being a student leader, I am responsible for the teaching of these qualities in my juniors under my charge. I am very proud of the sport I play, volleyball, and am a very prominent figure in the volleyball scene. I feel that I have a responsibility to bring across my team’s views on the recently implemented rule of rolling the ball under the net.

A simple Google-ing of “volleyball rule rolling ball under net” (as of 11 February 2007) generated no relevant results. As far as my knowledge serves me, I am unaware of such a rule in the international rules.

I fully understand that the purpose of this rule is so as to prevent players from displaying unsporting behavior in a match. Let me clarify that I fully agree with this perspective and personally try to champion this cause. However, I do not agree that rolling the ball under the net is a display of unsporting actions.

If one were to say that by rolling the ball under the net, he can injure an opponent, then I ask: has there been a recorded incident of a player getting injured by a ball rolled under the net? If one were to say that a player was to be unsporting in his behavior by rolling the ball under the net, then I ask: perhaps he is preventing the waste of time by such actions? Perhaps he is helping the game to move on?

An occasion where the effects of this rule were clearly seen would be at the VAS U-13 volleyball championships 2005. The finals showcased a showdown between St. Hildas and Victoria School. In this game, VS were given no less than 10 yellow cards in the second set. The spectacular game suddenly metamorphoses into a struggle to change the fossilized habit of passing the ball under the net.

I feel that this rule is really counter-productive. Players are more concerned about getting fouled then playing the match. Generously flashed yellow cards spoil the beauty of the game. Let’s face it, there are just too many cons against pros.

I reiterate that this rule does not serve its purpose in a practical fashion. I respect the intention but feel that there could be better ways to prevent the game from turning ugly. I am confident that the rules prior to the implementation of this is sufficient to prevent players from lashing out their frustration on their opponents.

Volleyball, being a relative new sport in Singapore, has still yet to reach the zenith of professionalism and apex viewer appreciation, and I feel that this rule is hindering the progress of this vision.I and my team are very proud to be playing the sport we love and are very supportive of VAS and its intentions. I strongly urge you to reconsider the implementation of this rule and analyze the effects of this rule. Once again allow to express my sincere thanks to you for reading this letter and I look forward to your reply and action taken.

Yours sincerely

Ernest Puey Wei Jie

Captain

Victoria School Volleyball Team